Monthly Archives: July 2013

Building a church … lets buy back our Catholic heritage!

Building a church … lets buy back our Catholic heritage!

A marble Angel of the Lord (1 of 2 angels)salvaged from the former Saint Aloysius Church in Philadelphia, being held hostage by King Richard’s Religious Antiques.Throughout the United States, there was a terrible practice of designing our Catholic Churches as “multi-purpose “buildings. Often such a designation [...]

Diocesan feast day chosen

Diocesan feast day chosen

By Dan McWilliams


Visitors to the Chancery office in Knoxville now have a tangible reminder of the newly designated diocesan feast day.

Workers in late August installed next to the front doors of the building a marble statue of the Blessed Virgin presenting the baby Jesus to the world. Inscribed beneath the statue [...]

St. Joseph in Charleston prepares for renovation of Pews

St. Joseph in Charleston Prepares for Renovation of Pews

By Amy Wise Taylor – The Catholic Miscellany

Charleston – St. Joseph Church will begin some long-planned interior renovations in July.

Father Gabriel J. Smith, pastor, said they are taking out their old pews and installing new ones. The process is expected to take about six weeks, but hinges [...]

Annunciation Parish transforms school into church

Annunciation Parish transforms school into church

By Terry Dickson

KILN – From the outside, Annunciation School resembles your typical school building.

However, take one step inside and you will hardly believe your eyes at the transformation that has occurred, as what once was an average, run of the mill gymnasium has become a beautiful worship space for Annunciation [...]

Stained glass

Stained glass “a way of sharing the faith”

By Leslie Renken

No one knows who made the first stained glass windows. Some of the earliest examples date to the first century, A.D.

And while the materials have improved since then, the tools used by stained glass artists have changed very little.

“We had an artist once who told me [...]

Recycled church artifacts become financial blessing

Recycled church artifacts become financial blessing

By Richard Robbins

Looking for a new processional cross for the chapel at the Geibel Junior-Senior High School, the Rev. Bob Lubic discovered a treasure trove of significant religious items, including stained glass windows, altar furnishings and a tabernacle.

“I was thrilled,” Lubic said. As school chaplain, Lubic has spearheaded the renovation [...]

All Souls Dedicates New Church


All Souls Dedicates New Church

By Betty Ann Weber

Sanford’s All Souls Church was 121 years in the making. On August 15th, parishioners honored that past and celebrated their future by dedicated a new church building for the historic parish. History records a trio of churches in Sanford bearing the name of All Souls. The first [...]

When Churches Close

When Churches Close

By Joseph Pronechan

ALPHARETTA, Ga. — When some churches were closed and their interiors sold, confessionals with donor plaques still on them turned up as telephone booths in an eatery. Donors’ relatives were understandably upset.

While objects from dismantled churches still appear on eBay and at antique dealers to some degree, most fine religious art, [...]

As City Parishes Close, Their Artifacts Find new Life in the Sub

As City Parishes Close, Their Artifacts Find New Life in the Suburbs

By Michael Alison Chandler

For the first 20 years of his life, The Rev. William P. Saunders recited the Lord’s Prayer in a church intended to be a Catholic school gymnasium. Although surrounded by cold, cinder-block walls, he found solace in the hand-carved crucifix and [...]

The Altar Guild Demystified

Hōkū Mākoi:The Epiphany Star

By Sharon Muramaru

During this past year, I have been researching the background of a certain historical artifact that the Epiphany Altar Guild has maintained since 1915. This curiosity of mine, led me to meeting new people and to visiting new places. Despite the fact that at this time, I still [...]

Parishioner fundraisers help pay for upgrades, renovations

Claire Pilon – Canada

Parishioners of St. Joseph Roman Catholic Church in Chelmsford gathered on the weekend to celebrate the dedication of the end of renovations and restoration to the interior of their church.

The Celebration of the Eucharist was presided over by the Bishop of the Diocese of Sault Ste Marie, Monsignor Jean-Louis Plouffe.

The church was [...]

Need a griffin?

By Mary Daniels


As an environmental contractor who does asbestos and lead paint removal for demolition cmopanies, Rick Lair came across countless architectural artifacts–from griffins and North Wind faces to stained glass and bronze radiator covers–that were being neglected or destroyed.

Lair began salvaging and storing these historical pieces in his warehouse, garage, attic, basement and [...]

Glorious Renewal of God’s House

Glorious renewal of God’s House

After decades of sparseness, new church construction and renovations reconnect with symbols and styles of the past.

By Ann Carey – Huntington, Indiana

When the Second Vatican Council closed in 1965, a new liturgical movement swept the country that stressed the function of a church over its design. Accordingly, [...]

Church artifacts migrate

Church artifacts migrate

By The Washington Times Sunday – June 11,2006

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — The altar was old. It was ornate. And it was on the gambling floor of the Hard Rock Cafe in Las Vegas. The Rev. James Lang was startled when he saw it there. Father Lang, vicar of parishes for the Roman Catholic [...]

Niche Market Success

Brookhaven Buzz
Atlanta, GA

Tim Kelly

Rick Lair, owner of King Richard’s Religious Artifacts, is a man on a mission. He drives 100,000 miles a year buying, selling and delivering religious artifacts to churches, religious organizations and certain individuals. For more than a decade, Rick has helped churches, schools, convents, hospitals and monasteries across America as well [...]

Crews salvage Windows to History

By Terry Wilson – Chicago, IL

Tribune Staff Writer

Inside the hull of a North Side church that looked as if it had been ground zero for a fairly large bomb, a small crew of workers chiseled stone Saturday to remove and save valuable stained-glass windows.

Working in Buena Memorial Presbyterian Church, 4301 N. Sheridan Rd., the workers [...]

Saving Another Historic Theater

King Richard’s, LTD., a Chicago-based architectural salvage firm, continues its efforts to rescue valuable artifacts from the wrecking ball. In a recent one-week span, the NADC member completed three salvage operations in Chicago on structures built in the early part of the century.

King Richard’s took advantage of an unseasonably warm spring week to mobilize its [...]

New life is found for Catholic church artifacts

By Craig Smith, PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Monday, December 5, 2011

As a seminarian, the Rev. Joseph McCaffrey knelt before a tabernacle in the chapel at Mercy Hospital, where his mother was being treated for a brain tumor, and prayed for her recovery.

Later, when he was named pastor of Ss. John and Paul Church in Marshall, he noticed [...]